Rearview

Montreal tuner builds the least tasteful Benz ever

Also: Ford GT production extended another two years for a total 1,000-car run; converted Corvette sets 200-mph record for fastest street-legal electric car

1/10

This is the Emperor I, from Montreal-based tuners Scaldarsi. At $1.5 million, it may very well be the most expensive way to show everyone on the street around you that you have little to no taste.

What is it exactly? Let’s break it down: Scaldarsi starts with a Mercedes-Maybach S600, lets you drizzle it in one of 16 hideous colours, refits the interior with one of 24 shades of one of 24 leathers and then trims it with one of 78 types of wood, explains Autoblog.

The tuner then dumps a pile of 24-karat rose gold accents all over the Emperor I, and offers you a choice of custom-made accessories, including engraved champagne flutes, matching tote bags, or an Emperor Edition Rolex watch. Custom key fobs are available, too.

The last modification Scaldarsi makes is its only saving grace. It pops the hood and stuffs a 6.3-liter twin-turbocharged V12 from the Brabus Rocket 900 in there, good for some 888 horsepower and a 3.7-second zero-to-100 km/h time.

Scaldarsi plans to make 10 of these obnoxious-looking limousines, and after that plans to offer an Emperor II, III and IV (a Mercedes coupe, a Bentley Bentayga, and a Benz SUV, respectively). The one we fear most is the Emperor V—the company’s take on the Bugatti Chiron. Oh, no.

Need some eye-bleach after that? Us, too. Here, take a look at this 1937 Talbot-Lago Type 150-C-S “Goutte d’Eau,” the winner of the inaugural Best of the Best Award. The car was one of six to have taken home a best-in-show at the world’s largest concours events last year, and was named the best of that half-dozen at the recent Peninsula Classics concours. (via Hemmings)

Did you not make the cut when you applied to purchase a new Ford GT recently? The company said it’d only make 500 over two years, but recently extended production another two years, which means the would-be buyers previously turned down now have a second chance. (via Automotive News)

The tuners at Genovation just set a new world record with a 205-mph run made July 28 at the Kennedy Space Center in this Corvette. Wait, 200-mph ‘Vettes are nothing new—what’s the record? Well, the car’s full name is the Genovation Extreme Electric (GXE), and the record’s the fastest street-legal all-electric vehicle. Cool! (via YouTube)